The Edge of Eternity
by Energywelder
Summary: "How about a wager to pass the time?" When gods play games with mortal lives, they often play with loaded dice, and don't really care about who dies. The wager includes the cast of RWBY, kinda. The setting is Medieval, but no Aura or Semblances,so AU. I'm a crass person who believes in realistic dialogue, so T for language, and maybe some romance stuff later.*DISCLAIMER*Educational
1. Prologue

The Edge of Eternity

* * *

"How about a wager, to pass the time?"

"The stakes?"

"If I win, I get The Guard, and you take my position with The Army."

"And if I win? You don't really have anything I want."

"You can have my sword."

"Shit odds, and you know it."

A third voice. "I don't know, they sound pretty fair to me."

"Stuff it Fourth, if I wanted your opinion, I'd find it faster to ask your master beforehand; cuts out the middleman, doesn't it? And it doesn't make me more sure of this wager since you have that habit of playing _dirty_."

"Alright, how about I swear on my own existence, that after the board is set, I waive my rights to interfere in the game; I just rely on my initial setup to win me the game."

"That's a huge advantage to me, is that all?"

"No, to not give the game away to you, I want first move and the better set up."

"Oof, that almost eliminates my advantage entirely."

"Well then name you price."

A moment.

"If I win, I get your two favorite projects, your sword . . . and your ring."

"Oh, is that all? Perhaps you'd like my firstborn too."

"The Guard is very important to me, you want it, you will offer me good odds for it."

"Fine then. Done?"

A sigh

A decision

"Done, pick your pieces, I will have the balance"

* * *

Posted 6/24/015

This is really only a prologue, the real RWBY characters will be there next chapter. I intend to write said chapter later today, and it will be longer. If it's not posted by friday, flames are appreciated.


	2. Black Pawn to E5

Chapter One

Black Pawn to E5

* * *

 _White Pawn to D4_

Ruby's breathing was ragged, her footsteps pounding. Her mottled emerald cloak billowed behind her as it caught the wind. Leaves crunched beneath her, and branches clawed at her as she tried to outrun her pursuit.

Her blood was thudding in her ears as she silently berated herself. _Damn it, damn it, damn it, shit, shit, shit. Stupid twig, just HAD to snap. Can't just let me kill the damn thing, oh NOOOO. No, you just had to fuck with me. Is this thing even still chasing me, or am I just chicken?_ Ruby spared a glance behind her, as she kept running through the now silent forest that looked down on the drama playing out. _Black fur, check. White face, check. Red eyes, check. Angry face-_

 _RAWR!_

 _-check. Fucking HUGE, check!_

The demon chasing her, known colloquially at the nearby city of Fernab as a Helhound, seemed to not only be intent on chasing her all the way to the city walls, but also a larger, faster, and angrier specimen of the species. Ruby, being known as one the fastest runners in the area (if not the kingdom), found herself not gaining any distance on the wolf. In fact, judging by the way it seemed to get louder with each minute, the gap between the two was probably closing.

 _There's the game trail!_ Ahead she could see the pathway cut through the forest by countless generations of wildlife taking the same route through the forest. Although not much wider than two people side by side, the complete lack of undergrowth would let Ruby pick up speed. Unfortunately, it would also let the Helhound match, if not exceed, her speed boost. But she had a plan to buy her the time she needed.

A smile found its way to Ruby's lips as she squinted a little. Bit by bit, she bled off her speed, letting the beast gain on her. _Come on buddy~, don't lose interest now, we're so close!_ As she silently egged on her pursuer, she drew closer to the game trail. When only twenty feet from the trail, she spotted a fallen tree, covered almost entirely in moss; most importantly, it was as high as mid thigh, and it lay _directly_ across her path and ran parallel to the game trail. _Perfect._

As the girl in the cape and the hood made a beeline for the log, she continued to let her speed fall off, as if growing tired, only making the Helhound race to close the gap entirely. By the time Ruby was vaulting the wooden obstacle, the demon was only five feet behind her. She could feel it's breath on her neck, feel its mouth opening to swallow her. And as she sailed over the top, she reached down, grasped the moss covered back, and used it to change her path mid-flight. Suddenly she was arcing down, behind the tree, while-

 _CHOMP!_

-the jaws of the Helhound snapped closed on empty air where her head and neck used to be. As the girl curled in a ball and rolled with the impact, her pursuer, absent any correcting force, continued to fly in the same direction it had launched . . . and slammed into the tress on the opposite side of the trail. One caught it right behind the head on the neck, and another caught it across the lower back. The impact being so great, and frankly surprising, that the wolf-like demon was stunned for several seconds.

Using the time preciously bought, Ruby took off immediately, legs working before she was even fully upright. Almost immediately she caught sight of a red streak across one of the trees, indicating she was only a hundred feet from her destination. _So close? I was sure it was at least another quarter mile away! Thank goodness for small mercies._ Ahead of her, the game trail terminated at a prepared clearing, and at the far edge of it, was a small wagon, and in it, her weapon. As she approached her wagon at top speed, she heard the sounds of pursuit again: heavy footfalls and rasping breath.

 _Oh good, he's still alive, now to keep it chasing me._ As she though this, she began to vary her own thudding footsteps, making them slightly off tempo. To an untrained observer, it would appear if she had suddenly developed a severe limp in her left leg. Behind her, Ruby could hear the Helhound picking up speed, as it sensed the chase near its end.

"That's right stupid, I'm wounded and need eating, come have some lunch" she whispered to herself. When only ten feet from the clearing, she drew a pen knife from her belt nicked herself on the finger, drawing blood. Squeezing her finger, and at the same time flicking her hand, scattered blood droplets in her wake. A moment later the beast caught sight of the red liquid, and recognizing it for what it was, put on a burst a speed that would've amazed anyone crazy enough to witness it. The newly reopened gap between huntress and prey closed alarmingly.

Ruby kept running through the clearing, getting closer to her wagon with each heart-pounding step. Fifteen feet from her wagon was a seemingly out of place rock; painted red. Bright red rocks being noticeable and such alerted Ruby that she had to jump right before it. Dropping the false limp and putting on one last burst of acceleration, she planted her right foot hard on the ground in front of the rock and put all of her remaining energy into a single thrust that sent her flying ten feet over the leaf strewn floor of the clearing, reaching an apogee of five feet, before slamming into the ground. Absorbing a lot of the impact on her bent legs, she rolled once, twice, and stopped directly in front of her wagon.

Not wasting any time, she reached up over the edge of the railing of the wagon, grasped the handle of her weapon, rose to a crouch, drew it, and whirling around whilst rising to her feet. Assuming a defensive stance with her right side facing the ever closer Helhound, arm outstretched with her weapon pointing directly at the beast, Ruby went perfectly still, preparing herself for what was about to happen.

The creature of darkness entered the clearing right as the wind picked up. Moving full tilt for the food-that-doesn't-know-it-yet, it picked up a scent that confused it. It smelled blood. Why would it smell not-food-blood? Was there anoth-. All the near-thoughts in its mind ceased as it picked up the smell of human blood scattered purposefully by its quarry. Its mind went completely over to the bloodlust. Instinct kicked in and it charged.

Thirty feet from the prey.

Twenty feet from the prey.

Fifteen feet from the prey.

Lunge-

It's rear feet hit the covered ground to propel itself into a lunge with claws reaching for the human that thought it could outrun a Helhound. It's feet pushed . . . through the ground? Falling? Wall of earth in front of it? With a meaty _smack_ , the beast found itself several feet down a hole, and impaled on several wooden stakes at the bottom. With stakes protruding from its upper back, lower back, and the back of its rear-left leg, its entire world went black with pain and it howled as best it could with a punctured lung; all that came out was a chocked snarl. It began to struggle on the spikes imbedded in its body, trying to free itself.

Ruby moved to edge of her pitfall to examine her prey. Looking over the edge of the arc shaped trap, she could see that it had once again proven highly effective. Crouching down for better reach, she drew back her right arm which still held her weapon: a thin but oversized metal spike, sharpened at the tip and two-and-a-half feet long, and possessing a very simple cross guard. With a grunt, she drove it forward, into the beast's neck and out its throat. Black ichor flowed freely from the wound, staining the puddles of already dark water at the bottom of the pit. Its windpipe run through and bleeding profusely, it quickly died.

Seeing it stop moving almost immediately, Ruby pulled her Needle from the body of the demon, and wiped it with a black-stained grey cloth she pulled from her belt.

"I think next time, I'll just take you with; saves me from having to run the whole way here to get you, Starlight." She crooned to it.

Placing the needle in the wagon carefully, almost lovingly, the huntress began to disarm for the hard work ahead. First there was the leather quiver of arrows attached to her belt. As she reached for the knot that held it in place, the effects of her two-mile run hit her. Suddenly losing feeling in everything below the waist and all sense of balance as her vision turned black, she braced herself against the side of her wagon in an effort to stay upright. Waiting a few minutes for the pounding in her ears to dissipate, and her vision to clear, felt like a whole day as the adrenaline in her veins made her hyper-aware of each second's passing. Even as her regained feeling in her legs, it felt like they'd turned entirely to lead. _Ugh, it feels like I'm dying~._ Turning back to job left to do, into the wagon went the quiver, a short-bow, and a hunting knife almost long enough to be illegal.

Quickly taking out a water skin for a drink to quench her suddenly burning throat, Ruby took a moment to take in her surroundings. Surrounding the clearing, which was about forty yards in diameter, were the tall trees of the emerald forest, soaring to eighty feet tall on average. Where the clearing wasn't covered in leaves, patches of wild dandelions grew, as yellow as Yang's hair. Since the Helhound was dead, the wild life of the forest felt brave enough to emerge from hiding, and the sounds of the forest returned. She even spotted a field mouse briefly emerge from its burrow before it spotted her, and fled back underground.

"Aw~, soooooo cute. I wonder if Yang would let me have a pet mouse." Ruby pouted as she turned back to the wagon. Putting the water skin down, she pulled out several lengths of rope. Over the course of the next several minutes, she used loops of the rope to lasso the body of the Helhound. Then came the hard part: pulling it out of the hole. What followed was thirty minutes of sweating, swearing, and straining already tired muscles. When it was finally out of the hole, tied up, and in the back of the cart, Ruby collapsed on the ground next to the wagon. Gasping for each breath, Ruby mumbled to herself "Fucking . . . heavy . . . body . . . I . . . hate you . . . so much."

Not noticing how drowsy she was, and how each blink seemed much longer than the last, Ruby drifted off to sleep . . .

* * *

 _She found herself in a dark field. The ground beneath her and extending in all direction was unnaturally flat, and everything up to her ankles was covered in deep fog, thick enough that she couldn't see her own feet. Above her wheeled great spirals and discs made seemingly of light, in-between them were colorful clouds with all the colors of the rainbow, and taking the strangest shapes, and yes_ wheeled _for they moved across the sky at a noticeable rate, falling behind the far horizon and new ones emerging from the ground in the opposite direction. Such a display would've amazed any dreamer, for instead of the random impressions and shaky vision the average person would have, each moment was as crisp as if she were awake . . ._

 _However, she couldn't focus on the amazing light show above her head, for in front of her was a towering figure, at least two heads taller than her. She couldn't make out his features, for the lights above were arranged in such a way that the brightest was behind him, and only silhouetted a strange round hat on top of his head. His exposed hands, one of which gripped an elegant cane in front of him, glowed with silvery light. And it was a him, for those broad shoulders and powerful hands could indicate nothing else. The strange glowing man was clothed in strange clothes of all black. Emanating from the man was an aura of pure power. It felt like a powerful wind was gusting in front of her, threatening to send her flying, but there was so sound of wind._

 _"_ _Who are you" Ruby asked in a whisper, gazing wide eyed at the dark figure in front of her. The stranger's response nearly drove her to her knees._

I am known by many names, and entrusted with many titles. None of which you have the proper context for and therefore have no meaning for you. This is not important.

 _Pain, his voice was PAIN! And yet she heard him without him speaking, she clutched her ears in an effort to protect her hearing. Despite this she heard him just as fine._

I have a job for you, and much is riding on it, so much so that I need more than just you. I need you and I need you.

 _His voice had no direction, it seemed to be coming from all around her and nowhere at the same time. "That makes no sense! What do you mean?!" Ruby shouted as loud as she could, feeling as if the 'wind' was picking up, the storm getting closer. And indeed it was, the figure was drawing closer, taking careful, deliberate steps that left ripples in the fog._

You will in time. And I hope you appreciate this advantage that I'm giving you. You'll need it all if you want to win. _He stood right in front of her now. The pressure was so much now that Ruby felt that even the slightest movement, and she would be sent sailing through the air, caught on the current flowing off the stranger. He raised his hand and next to Ruby on her right side appeared a mirror the size of a door, bordered on the three visible edges with thick silver molding. The designs on the edges were of all sorts of shapes twisting into each other, forming a confusing design that was painful to look at. In the mirror was an image of her, obviously, but the other her was dressed so strangely. Her cloak was bright red like . . . roses that bloomed in winter. Her clothing too had a lot of black, but was outlined nearly everywhere with the same red. Instead of brown leather boots like the ones she knew as her own, the other she wore black boots made of a strange material that had red strings on the front, as if to hold them together. And peeking out from behind the small of her back was a strange metallic looking . . . brick? All she could tell was that it was mechanical looking in nature and the same red and black as the other her's clothes._

 _The other her's expression seemed to be her own, intense confusion with the brow furrowed, eyes slightly squinted, lips slightly parted. Taking in all of this in a brief moment, she didn't notice the stranger's hand reaching for her until his pointer finger was on her forehead in the reflection. She felt intense heat across her entire body. She saw stars, rushes of bluring color, and heard voices too jumbled to be understood._ Good Chance.

* * *

Ruby shot awake, gasping for air and sweating profusely, completely confused by where she was. She glanced overhead, and saw that the sun had moved enough for a couple of hours to have passed. Hardly remembering the weird dream she had just had. She got to her feet and checked on her wagon. Everything was right where it was supposed to be. She counted herself lucky that nothing had been stolen in her sleep, and cursed herself for falling asleep in such a dangerous part of the woods.

Sparing another glance skywards and noting that though it had only been two hours, it was getting late. "Shoot, if I don't get home soon, Yang will throw a fit. She might actually catch fire." Ruby giggled to herself at the random but hilarious thought. Then stopped to consider, "Wait, if it was only a couple hours, and I'm still tired, but everything is here, why am I awake?"

There was a quiet growling noise from the brush behind her. Giving a sigh, and drawing her Needle, Ruby prepared herself. "Fuck~ my life."

* * *

Else( )

Ruby shot awake, gasping for air and sweating profusely, completely confused by where she was. Above her was the ceiling of her dorm. It was still the night after the crisis in Vale, and she could hear the quiet breathing of her team, or, in the case of Yang, snoring. Glancing around and making sure everything was in its place, Ruby slowly reclined back onto her pillow, already feeling sleepy again. She hardly remembered the weird dream she just had, and cursed herself for waking up in the middle of the night. "What a wacky dream. *Yawn*. Just wacky."

* * *

 _White Pawn takes Black Pawn_

* * *

Posted on 6/26/015

Okay, so wow. I just spent several hours working on that, so I'd like some feedback, or I will make a point not to update for two weeks. I also now know just how much work goes into writing a FF, so I will never criticize again.

I next intend to update sometime on Monday, but I don't know how much time I will have to work, I have a job interview that day. I am also now a writer for the Pro-Bending Cup (season two) so my attention will be split a bit. If you have any questions, leave them in the reviews, and I'll do my best to get back to you. Thank you, and goodnight.


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